Senior Practitioner Psychologist in Cambridge

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please refer to the attached job description and person specification for full details of responsibilities.

• Conduct comprehensive psychological assessments and develop individualized trauma informed treatment plans

• Deliver evidence-based therapies for people who have complex PTSD and other difficulties relating to complex trauma (e.g. EMDR/ TF-CBT) using practice-based evidence with service users who have difficulties where there is not an established evidence base.

• To provide individual and group supervision to more junior staff in the team and to staff in other services who also work with this population

• To promote and support the implementation of Trauma Informed Care in all aspects and areas of their work

• To supervise assistant psychologists and CAPs delivering group and structured short term interventions addressing gaps in services

• Deliver therapeutic interventions in group and individual format in therapies including TF-CBT, EMDR, CFT, CAT, Schema and DBT.

• Take autonomous responsibility for the assessment, treatment and discharge of service users

• Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of interventions, adjusting treatment plans as necessary.

• Be available to junior members of the team for ad hoc advice regarding risk, boundaries and responses to service users

• Collaborate with a multidisciplinary team to provide holistic care and support to service users.

• Contribute to service development, research, and evaluation to enhance the quality of care provided, leading on specific working groups developing interventions or materials

• To attend interface meetings with community teams, the IAPT and personality disorder services to help think through the best services to provide treatment and support to individuals

• To provide highly specialist psychological advice, guidance and consultation to other professionals.

Risk

• Undertake risk assessments related to psychological interventions and manage risks in accordance with best practice guidelines and organizational policies.

• Ensure appropriate action is taken to mitigate risks and safeguard service users.

Person specification

Education / Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Doctoral level training in clinical or counselling psychology, including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology; Registered as Practitioner Psychologist with HCPC.

• Undertaken training in the supervision of trainee clinical psychologists.

Desirable criteria

• Undertaken advanced training in a therapeutic approach

• Chartered Clinical Psychologist.

Experience

Essential criteria

• Experience of specialist psychological assessment, formulation and treatment of service users across the full range of care settings including outpatient, community, primary care and inpatient settings

• Experience of working with older people with mental health problems

• Experience of teaching, training and/or professional and clinical supervision.

Desirable criteria

• Experience of representing psychology within the context of multi-disciplinary care, including sharing of psychological formulation.

• Experience of working with people living with dementia and their families and carers.

• Able to demonstrate further specialist training / experience through having received a minimum of 50 hours clinical supervision of working as a specialist practitioner psychologist over a minimum of 2 years, or an alternative agreed by the Head of Speciality

Skills & Abilities

Essential criteria

• Knowledge and understanding of issues affecting older people and an ability to demonstrate compassion for the lived experience of this illness.

• Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration requiring the use of highly developed analytical and judgement skills.

• Skills in individual and group work and in programme planning. Planning and organising skills for caseload management. Skills in selfmanagement, including time management.

Desirable criteria

• Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in specific difficult to treat groups (e.g. personality disorder, dual diagnoses, people with additional disabilities etc).

Knowledge & Understanding

Essential criteria

• Specialist knowledge of complex trauma

• Able to contain and work with high levels of distress from service users.

Desirable criteria

• Ability to demonstrate initiative for the improvement of individual practice, systems and services

Other

Essential criteria

• Ability to travel

• Ability to identify, provide and promote appropriate means of support to carers and staff exposed to highly distressing situations and severely challenging behaviours.

• Willingness to embrace integrated model and new ways of working.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Documents to download

• Senior Practitioner Psychologist (PDF, 472.6KB)
• Senior Practitioner Psychologist (PDF, 472.6KB)
• CPFT Values (PDF, 114.7KB)
• CPFT Mindful Employers (PDF, 51.3KB)
• CPFT Accommodation (PDF, 296.6KB)
• CPFT Benefits (PDF, 74.4KB)